Hard shoulder use

[Jaykaybi]

Hello all, I suspect this will be a quick one:

When sitting on a motorway in very heavy/static traffic, does 'if I stay here in this traffic jam I have genuine reason to believe I will run out of fuel' constitute enough of an emergency to validate use of the hard shoulder up to the next exit? Could someone point me at definitive legislation?

Best,
JKB

[vonhosen]

Jaykaybi said:

Hello all, I suspect this will be a quick one:

When sitting on a motorway in very heavy/static traffic, does 'if I stay here in this traffic jam I have genuine reason to believe I will run out of fuel' constitute enough of an emergency to validate use of the hard shoulder up to the next exit? Could someone point me at definitive legislation?

Best,
JKB

Reg 16 Motorway Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982 provides the exemptions & they aren't definitive, the courts will decide if the individual circumstances satisfy the exemptions within the regulations.

[Jaykaybi]

vonhosen said:

Reg 16 Motorway Traffic (England and Wales) Regulations 1982 provides the exemptions & they aren't definitive, the courts will decide if the individual circumstances satisfy the exemptions within the regulations.

Thank you, that's clear enough then.

[steveeeW]

Although this has been clarified, just wanted to chip in! I believe it would not, due to the fact that they will just turn round and say, "You should of made sure there was enough fuel, even if there was heavy traffic".

[Jaykaybi]

steveeeW said:

Although this has been clarified, just wanted to chip in! I believe it would not, due to the fact that they will just turn round and say, "You should of made sure there was enough fuel, even if there was heavy traffic".

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It's raining, and dark. It's been a long day. You're ten minutes from home. You've been driving for three hours already, on a tank you filled up when you left. You have enough fuel to get you home and you're looking forward to seeing your wife and kids, but just before your junction someone's stacked their car and caused a lane closure. You've no choice but to crawl along in a tailback stretching ten miles, which will certainly last an hour or more. Your fuel light has come on, the gauge has dropped from 1/4, to 1/5, to 1/10, and is now nudging over the empty line. You've still got 5 miles to go before you get to the exit and the traffic is not getting any better - if you could slowly drive those 5 miles on the hard shoulder, you believe you will just about make it. If you stay in line, you will run out of fuel on this already snarled up carriageway.

Option a) Keep in line, run out of fuel, cause an additional hazard, put your and other people's safety at risk, and possibly incur significant costs.
Option b) Put the hazards on, select the highest mechanically sympathetic gear available, and cautiously use the hard shoulder to reach the exit.

Edited by Jaykaybi on Wednesday 13th March 08:21

[upsidedownmark]

Option C: Turn the engine off when you're not moving?

[vonhosen]

Jaykaybi said:

steveeeW said:

Although this has been clarified, just wanted to chip in! I believe it would not, due to the fact that they will just turn round and say, "You should of made sure there was enough fuel, even if there was heavy traffic".

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. It's raining, and dark. It's been a long day. You're ten minutes from home. You've been driving for three hours already, on a tank you filled up when you left. You have enough fuel to get you home and you're looking forward to seeing your wife and kids, but just before your junction someone's stacked their car and caused a lane closure. You've no choice but to crawl along in a tailback stretching ten miles, which will certainly last an hour or more. Your fuel light has come on, the gauge has dropped from 1/4, to 1/5, to 1/10, and is now nudging over the empty line. You've still got 5 miles to go before you get to the exit and the traffic is not getting any better - if you could slowly drive those 5 miles on the hard shoulder, you believe you will just about make it. If you stay in line, you will run out of fuel on this already snarled up carriageway.

Option a) Keep in line, run out of fuel, cause an additional hazard, put your and other people's safety at risk, and possibly incur significant costs.
Option b) Put the hazards on, select the highest mechanically sympathetic gear available, and cautiously use the hard shoulder to reach the exit.

Life's full of choices (& consequences).

[mattshiz]

upsidedownmark said:

Option C: Turn the engine off when you're not moving?

that would be too easy

[Prizam]

When people use the hard shoulder like this it makes me want to pit maneuver and shoot them.

Wait in line like the rest of us, fk tards!

[goneape]

Don't know if your example was hypothetical or a literal summary of the real situation; but 3 hrs driving doesn't amount to the best part of a tank, unless you have extremely low mpg or a very small tank - in which case, it's reasonable to presume you'd have known better.

This is the AD forum - the AD would have considered the possibility and filled up again en route, not left it to the last minute.

If it came to the crunch, you should pull over and stop until the roads clears, not use the hard shoulder as a personal passing lane. You're not special, just because you took a risk on low fuel and got caught out.

[Pontoneer]

I always carry an emergency can with a gallon of fuel ( I have a circular one which fits inside the spare wheel ) . I can't remember when I last had to use it myself , but I quite often stop and help those who have broken down , giving them fuel if necessary .

[Pontoneer]

goneape said:

Don't know if your example was hypothetical or a literal summary of the real situation; but 3 hrs driving doesn't amount to the best part of a tank, .

It does in my gas guzzler